In the past, video cassette recorders were used to display videos on a television set. DVD (digital video disc) video players soon replaced the video cassette recorders. DVD video players had the advantage over video cassette players in that DVD video players could quickly and accurately access and display specific segments of data from anywhere on a DVD. Viewers typically controlled the display of content by a DVD video player using a remote control.
Quite recently, content providers have begun to offer interactive games that are played on a DVD video player. In one example, an interactive DVD video game randomly selects and outputs movie clips, images, and/or audio clips stored on a DVD and then asks a question related to the output content. A selected player then answers the question, sometimes through a remote control associated with the DVD video player or through control buttons located on the DVD video player. Subsequently, the DVD video player outputs the correct answer, typically on an associated display device where all players can view the answer. Depending on the correctness of the player's answer, the selected player might move forward in the game. When the selected player's “turn” is over, another player is selected, i.e., it is his turn and the process repeats. Of course, this process is be repeated until one player wins the game.
As mentioned above, in the illustrative game, the correct answers to the questions or puzzles are typically output on a display device (e.g., a television) which is commonly viewed by all players. Since answers are shown to all participants in the game, content providers have not been able to provide DVD video games that can present specific information to a single player in a multi-player game. In other words, content providers proceeded with the notion that specific information intended for a selected player could not be presented on a commonly viewed display device without the information being universally known by the other players viewing the display.